Saturday, December 06, 2008

A clever title, with a thought provoking double meaning.

Nothing too much going on right now, in the way of passions or protests. I've just been relaxing today ... well ... for the past 4 hours of today. Relaxation seems to take longer than stressfulness. A person can get stressed at the drop of a hat. (Where did that expression come from?) It takes awhile to relax. For me the relaxation started at lunch. Sort of.Okay, it started at Borders, where I bought the Anti-Federalist Papers. But the book store, full of punk kids, crying babies, and Xmas-loving mongrel-idiots did little to alleviate my stress, so I took my new book to a better venue.I went to my favorite restaurant in the world, Bombay Grill in Avon, CT. I like to get the lunch buffet when it's available (between 11:30 am and 2:30 pm, daily) because I can sample more than one particular dish. Now, this has a pro and a con. The pro is, of course, that I enjoy variety, and when it comes to my gustatorial habits I like to experience as much as I can. The con being that a buffet dish is not made with the same care and quality as a singular dish, and is never as spicy as I like; the mass populace partakes of the buffet, and the mass populace has a palate that averages on the mild side. Zachy-like-the-spicy!I also enjoy the buffet for the simple reason that it's cheaper than an ordinary dish. An entrée costs, on average, $15, whereas the buffet rests at an easy $8.95. The average entrée will fill me up and keep me satisfied for an appropriate amount on time, so it's really a good deal. However, the buffet ... ohh, the buffet! Which brings me to my third reason preferring the buffet when possible:When I really like something a lot I like to eat such an obscene amount of food that it's difficult to walk for a good hour, and I'm not hungry again for a really ... really long time. For example, when I left the restaurant over 3 and a half hours ago I was so stuffed that I walked to my car with a limp. Can you explain how that makes sense? That a man would eat so much food he limps?! My theory is that the food settled on the right side of my stomach. I dunno how it happens, but at that buffet I eat what must be considered a sinful amount of food. On the other hand, it does improve my posture, due to the fact that if I don't sit/stand with my back straight as an ironing board, then my stomach just doesn't have enough room to contain its contents. Seriously ... it hurts to slouch with that much food.And I love it.Today I learned about a new dish. I was the only patron left in the restaurant at 2:30 (it closes between 2:30 and 5pm for some reason), so I asked about a part of the buffet I hadn't seen before, and the waiter gladly described it for me, and showed me how to prepare it, and told me how to eat it. My mistake was asking this after I had stuffed myself silly, THEN had dessert ... THEN I asked about the food, and he made it for me, so I couldn't not eat it! Not only did I not want to insult him, but I also really really wanted to try something new. I'll spare you the description, and only say that the dish is called Panipuri. The description in the wikipedia article is roughly what I had. It was so good, and only served on weekend buffets, which is why I hadn't seen it before. I seriously can not wait to go back and try it on a reasonably empty stomach, so that I can feel the pleasure of it in my mouth and not feel the pain of it in the belly. I only ate two of the three he prepared, and explained that I had already stuffed myself silly (can you use that expression twice in the same paragraph?), and he laughed and understood.So ... that painfully obscene, and nearly grotesque lunch was the beginning of my relaxation today.I proceeded from there to Barnes and Noble so that I could relax, digest, and read a couple chapters of Watchmen in a big comfy chair.If you don't know what Watchmen is, then you really ought to stay tuned, because in my next entry I fully intent on delving into the awesomeness that is graphic novels, and particularly Watchmen.Ta.